


The Doctor's Wife

by Remyroo17



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, In which River Song is played by Katie McGrath, Thasmin if you squint, even tho she can't run to save her life so could never play this part
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-18 06:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16990005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Remyroo17/pseuds/Remyroo17
Summary: What's a derelict castle good for, if not attracting archaeologists?The return of River Song. Will be a fic in 3 chapters: one in which they meet, one with some romantic fluff, and one where we find out exactly how River was brought back.





	1. Chapter 1

Yasmin was, to put it simply, annoyed. 

The Doctor had promised her companions a lovely day out on some far off beach, on a planet made of beaches, and yet… 

Here they were, stood in the grand hall of a derelict castle on a different planet, in a different galaxy all together! 

There were signs of a battle all around them, not long fought, some bodies still warm. 

Ryan and Graham were wandering around the outskirts of the room, examining the torn tapestries and damaged stonework. Yaz and the Doctor were stood in the middle of the room, and the Doctor was constantly turning around, looking here and there. 

“There's something I'm missing!” She exclaimed. “I'm sure of it!”

Unbeknownst to any of them, a sniper bot stood concealed in a corner. It's gun slowly came up from its side, and aimed at the Time Lord’s head. 

As it's charge was loading, the doors of the hall burst open. A laser shot flew right past the Doctor’s head, she heard it whistle and felt the energy singe some of her hair. 

It struck the sniper bot dead in the chest.

As it clattered to the floor, the blonde and her companions turned to see who the saviour was. 

An absolutely beautiful woman stood at the doors. She was rather tall, perhaps the same height as the Doctor herself if not for the heeled boots she were sporting. Black, wavy hair cascaded past her shoulders. 

She dramatically blew the muzzle of her weapon, though it emitted no smoke, and smirked when she holstered it again. 

“Hello, Sweetie.”

For what was a derelict castle if not an attraction for archaeologists?

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “What?!”

(If this were some sort of TV show airing on a national British broadcasting channel, this is where the opening titles roll.)

The Doctor’s saviour strolled casually into the room, passing the Doctor and heading for the sniper bot she’d just destroyed to inspect it. 

“You really ought to pay more attention, my love,” she spoke, breaking open the bot’s head to look inside.

Her voice had an Irish lilt to it.

“Who are you?” The Doctor said, a growl in her voice as she raised her sonic, scanning the other woman. She read the readouts from her device. “You can't…” she sighed. 

The black haired woman looked up at her, she'd been scanning the bot with her own sonic, the same one gifted to her on Dallirium. 

Her eyebrows knitted together slightly. She stood and made her way over to the Doctor, just slightly taller than her. 

“You haven't met this me yet, have you?” She sighed, a soft smile playing at her lips. 

The Doctor swallowed thickly. “You're not her. You, you  _ can't  _ be  _ her _ . She's… she's dead.”

“And yet, here I stand.” She came closer, one hand reaching up to caress the Doctor’s cheek. Despite the blonde’s protests that this wasn't  _ her _ , she leant into the touch. 

The Time Lord shook her head slightly, feeling the callouses on the other woman’s hands scrape the soft skin of her cheek. 

The Doctor brought her own hand up, tucking some stray, dark hair behind the other’s ear. 

Oh, how she desperately wanted this to be  _ her _ . 

“Tell me something, something only she would know.”

The archaeologist smiled and leant in, her soft, red-painted lips pressed next to the Doctor’s ear. 

Lovingly, she whispered her name. 

The Doctor’s eyes fluttered shut and she let out a breath as she spoke. “River.”

She turned her head and kissed her wife with all the love and passion she could muster, all the emotions she'd had buried away since losing this amazing woman. 

Yaz, Graham and Ryan had been watching the pair in confusion. Now, though, they averted their gazes, allowing them their moment, as it was clearly important. 

When Yaz decided they'd had a reasonable amount of time, she coughed dramatically. 

Their kiss parted, and the two eyed each other. 

“How?”

“Spoilers.”

The Doctor rolled her eyes. “Did I help?”

“Maybe a little, but it was mostly me,” River winked.

“I'm sure.”

Yaz shook her head. “Sorry, but, what’s happening?”

The two time travellers separated, and the Doctor took hold of River’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “Sorry for that, guys,” she said innocently, blushing a little at their display of affection. “This is my wife, River Song,” she grinned, looking at the darker haired woman and then back at her companion.

“Your wife?” Yasmin uttered, sounding surprised and, if River was seeing properly, a hint of jealousy.

Graham frowned. “If she’s your wife, why didn’t you recognise her?”

The Doctor let out a little laugh. “Well, d’you remember me saying I used to be a man? Grumpy old scotsman with the eyebrows?” Her companions nodded. “That’s regeneration. See, this is my thirteenth form - maybe fourteenth, that’s complicated though.” As she spoke she kept glancing between River and her friends, always choosing a different part of her wife to look at. 

“Well, River can regenerate, too. I thought she’d used ‘em all, we weren’t really sure how many she had anyway…”

“You’re on your thirteenth?” River shook her head. “How are  _ you _ here?”

Thirteen laughed. “It’s a long story, but basically, I got a whole ‘nother go! You’ll never be rid of me!”

“Oh, darling, I couldn’t if I tried! And I have,” she smirked.

Ryan finally spoke up. “How does this regeneration thing work, exactly?”

The Time Lord was about to speak, but Yasmin cut them off. “We need to go,” she said simply, pointing at the sniper bot that was starting to stir again.

“I thought I’d disabled it with the sonic… Oh well,” River grinned at her Doctor. “Run!”

The five of them legged it, Graham pulling the heavy doors shut behind them.

Once they were all safely inside the TARDIS, Ryan was hunched over, grasping his knees and panting heavily.

“You’ve redecorated!” River exclaimed, caressing one of the amber pillars. The TARDIS hummed and brightened at her touch. 

The Doctor watched on with a smile. “Looks like she’s missed you, like someone else I know.”

River eyed her again. 

“What do you think, then?” the Doctor asked, giving her wife a twirl, her long coat spinning out around her. 

“Don’t you worry, I’ve already told you how much I love your new form. Many times over,” she purred. “And your opinion of me?” she asked in return.

The Doctor looked River up and down properly as she gave a little turn. Her only response was a deep sigh, a nod, and a light-headed looking smile. 

“I’ll take your speechlessness as a compliment.”

The Doctor shook her head slightly and clapped her hands together. “Right! We need a plan of attack!”

“You don’t  _ do _ attack,” Ryan prompted, sipping on some bottled water the TARDIS must have conjured up for him. 

She pointed at him. “Very true! We need a plan of defence! A plan to win!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'm also sorry that it ends where it does. I ran out of inspiration for their date.  
> I've plotted the last chapter in my head, though; where the Doc gets River out of the library in the first place.  
> For now; enjoy! Hope it's okay.

The Doctor sighed happily as she pushed open the doors of her Ghost Monument. “Another adventure completed! Another civilisation saved!” she called out, caressing the console. “And now, it’s time I took my wife on a date.”

  
She started flicking switches, pulling levers and pressing buttons. “Hope you three don’t mind if I drop you at home for a bit?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at her three musketeers.

  
Graham and Ryan shook their heads,but Yasmin hesitated.

  
She glanced between the Doctor and River Song. They clearly had a lot of love between them, and the Doctor had explained she’d thought her wife lost forever. Not to mention, even Yasmin was attracted to River; there was no way she could compete with this woman for the Doctor’s affections. They were a perfect match.

  
“Yeah, sure. Need a bit of a break anyway, maybe a mani-pedi,” she joked. River looked like she approved. “One of those fish foot-baths where they eat all your dead skin…” she trailed off. Ryan squinted and gave her an ‘are you serious’ look.

  
“Amazin!” The Doctor said, clapping her hands together.

  
She smiled softly at Yaz, not picking up on the longing look she was receiving in return. (River, however, noticed it within moments.)

  
The blonde reached for the final lever that would start the engines, then pulled her hand back. She looked to her wife. “Would you like to do the honours? Been a while since you flew her.”

  
River smiled. “I know it has… and I’ve still already corrected your mistakes and made sure we’re actually heading for Sheffield,” she turned to the trio.  
“Any of you have a particular date and time you’d prefer to get back to? This one once left my mum for ‘five minutes’ and came back twelve years later.”

  
Ryan opened his phone. “I’ve started taking screenshots of the real time and date we left, then we know how much earth time has passed and Yaz can come up with a good story if we get back wrong,” he explained, holding his phone out to River with the screenshot on it.

The Doctor pouted. “Am I really that unreliable?”

  
“Yes!” All four chorused.

“I’ve gotten two cautions for lateness because of you,” Yaz said, smiling slightly at teasing the Doctor.

River input the correct information and reached for the lever. “Ready?”

~

After dropping the trio off not five minutes after they’d last left (and Yaz had popped off to get the promised bread), River closed the doors and turned to her new Doctor. “A date then, hmm?”

Thirteen grinned. “I’m thinking a proper human one. Lincoln’s only down the road, it’s got a gorgeous cathedral and castle. And there’s this great little tea shop built over the river… What d’you reckon?”

~

Soon after, the Doctor and River were strolling down Steep Hill, the Doctor pointing out various buildings she’d visited before in previous incarnations. River just listened to her ramble on - this one seemed to be quite the talker.

“Sorry if I’m being annoying,” the Time Lord said shyly. “I’m still not sure if I’m socially awkward or just a talker.”

“My bet’s on the talker,” River smiled at her. She slipped her hand into her wife’s, and frowned. She raised their hands in front of her, coming to a halt under a handsome archway by a NatWest.

“Your ring! It’s gone,” she muttered, inspecting the Doctor’s ring finger.

Thirteen grimaced. “Yeah, might have fallen off when I regenerated. Lost into the TARDIS, which then regenerated too. I keep asking her for it, but she can’t seem to find it. Could’ve fallen out when I did, to be fair.”

River kissed the back of her hand. “I lost mine too. I was wearing it in the library, under my suit. When I got out, I was just wearing normal clothes, it’d gone.”

The Doctor brought their hands closer to her and kissed River’s hand as well.

“How about we get some new ones?”

Together, they picked out matching rings; not quite wedding, but not quite engagement style either.

“D’you have contactless?” The doctor asked the cashier calmly.

He hesitated. “Yes, but it doesn’t work over £30 anywhere… Your total is £894…”

The Doctor just took out her sonic, pointed it at the card machine and pressed the button.

It dinged positively, and the till drawer opened automatically at the successful transaction.

The shop assistant seemed incredibly confused, but the transaction had definitely gone through. He held out the receipt. “Um, have a nice day?”

Thirteen took it and pocketed it, grinned at River and tugged her out of the shop.


End file.
